BURDEN CAPACITY. 



21 



bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down 

 into Egypt." In Isaiah's prophecy of the blessings in store for 

 the Gentiles, he says : " The multitude of camels shall cover 

 thee ; the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah, all they from 

 Sheba shall come, they shall bring gold and incense, and they 

 shall show forth the praises of the Lord." Again he says : 

 " They will carry their riclies upon the shoulders of young asses, 

 and their treasures upon the bunches of camels." 



The arrival of a caravan, " laden with treasure," is exquisitely 

 painted by Longfellow, in the "Kalif of Baldacca" 



"Into the city of Kambalu, 

 By the road that leadeth to Ispahan, 

 At the head of his dusty caravan, 

 Laden with treasure from realms afar, 

 Baldacca and Kelat and Kanahar, 

 Eode the great Captain Alau. 



" The Khan from his palace window gazed ; 



He saw in the thronging street beneath, 

 . In the light of the setting sun that blazed, 



Through the clouds of dust by the caravan raised, 



The flash of harness and jewelled sheath, 



And the shining scymitars of the guard. 



And the weary camels that bared their teeth, 



As they passed and passed tlirough the gates unbarred 



Into the shade of the palace yard," 



Equally good is that sumptuous ballad of Don Fulano, de- 

 scribing the Cid's entry into Valencia, after his victory at 

 Abelfueda, and slaying the five Moorish kings : — 



"With dripping sword and horse all sweat he rode into the town, 

 The black gore from his plume and flag was raining hotly down; 

 His mace was bent, his banner rent, his helmet beaten in : 

 The blood-spots on his mail were thick as spots on leopard's skin. 



"And after came the hostages, the ransomed and the dead — 

 The cloven Moors in wagons piled, the body or the head ; 

 And heaps of armor, golden-chained, gay plumes and broken flags, 

 Piled up as in the tanner's yard, or heaps of beggars' rags. 



" Then stately camels, golden-trapped, each silver- white as milk, 

 Rich laden with the aloes- wood, soft ambergris, and silk ; 

 Rich Indian camphor, martin-skins, from Khorasau the fair; 

 Ten piles of silver ingots, each a Sultan's triple share. 



